Social Preferences in Resource-Sharing Environments

Last registered on January 02, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Social Preferences in Resource-Sharing Environments
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015103
Initial registration date
December 31, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 02, 2025, 7:40 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Harvard University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
MMUST

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-02-01
End date
2025-10-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This research explores the relationships between inequality, envy, and productivity in resource-sharing contexts. Building on behavioral economics and social psychology, this study investigates how inequality affects jealousy and subsequently influences individuals’ economic behaviors, particularly effort and redistribution. The project will be situated in rural Kenya, where collectivist norms and informal redistribution mechanisms shape economic decisions. Using randomized control trials, we aim to identify the causal links between inequality and envy, the role of jealousy in sanctioning behaviors, and how visibility impacts effort choices. Two experimental designs are employed: the first examines social responses to inequality and the second evaluates effort disincentives in a workplace setting under varying types of conspicuousness. This study will contribute to understanding the socioeconomic dynamics of inequality and provide insights into policy interventions aimed at enhancing productivity and fostering equitable growth.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ali Abdillahi, Umulkher and Grace Michel. 2025. "Social Preferences in Resource-Sharing Environments." AEA RCT Registry. January 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15103-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-01
Intervention End Date
2025-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Productivity, earnings, life satisfaction, Bosman and Van Winden scales, joy-of-destruction game decisions, collaboration game measures, social networks, redistribution, and harm in the workplace.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Experiment 1:
Workers will be grouped into pairs. The pairs will be randomized into one of four treatment groups, following a 2x2 randomization design. The first dimension of randomization is inequality. Half of the pairs will have equal wages, while half will have worker 1 earning more than worker 2 through a bonus. The second dimension is resource sharing. When forming the pairs, half of the pairs will include two individuals who already engage in resource sharing, while the other half will have pairs in different resource-sharing networks.
Experiment 2:
The experiment will be divided into six time periods based on the workers' payment schedules. For the first three periods of the study, workers in payment groups will be paid privately to avoid any precise signal of effort. In periods 4 through 6, groups of three workers will be randomized into payment groups, varying (1) whether earnings are public and (2) the highlighting of top workers. For (2), there will be four different types of highlighting from no highlighting to highlighting with verbal recognition and a monetary bonus.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done privately by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Randomization will take place at the worker payment group level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Experiment 1: 252
Experiment 2: 200
Sample size: planned number of observations
Experiment 1: 504 Experiment 2: 600
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Experiment 1: 63 payment groups in each arm
Experiment 2: 40 payment groups in each arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
HUA
IRB Approval Date
2023-03-03
IRB Approval Number
IRB23-0213
Analysis Plan

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